“I’m tethered to a world I can’t forget.”
nightlife are a band that, for anyone who knows me, have become one of the most exciting new artists in the alternative world for me. The brainchild of vocalist/songwriter/producer Hansel Romero, alongside world-class musicians Julian Lofton and Isaiah Walker, nightlife have certainly made a name for themselves. Combining elements of funk, soul, R&B, post-hardcore and djent, the Baltimore trio have been gradually taking the music world by storm since the release of their debut EP, new low, back in 2021. Now following on almost a year later with their second offering, fallback, can nightlife match or surpass the lofty expectations set by their barnburner debut? In short, yes.
Opening track, and aptly-named “nightlife type beat” kicks off the EP in style, with a short-but-sweet taste of signature nightlife goodness. A killer topline? Check. A groovy bassline that unlocks the utmost primal instincts within me? Check. The track also possesses this sense I can’t shake of feeling like the EP’s opening theme/inadvertent overture of sorts, setting the tone and mood of the EP in a pinch, without overstaying its welcome or, conversely, not saying enough in the process.
Of course, it goes without saying that title track and recent single “fallback” is a soul-infused djent anthem for the ages. Replete with enough raw groove, bite and bombastic brass to keep your brain locked into the track’s dense arrangement from start to finish, it’s proven to be one of the most engaging and infectious tracks of the year up to this point. If you’re familiar with the band’s debut, new low, “fallback” feels the most akin to that first EP’s title track. While the song, much like the opener, is littered with all of nightlife’s signature DNA, however, that defining sound is expanded upon to perfection here, feeling like a meaningful and intentioned continuation of their core sound, while not being content to rest on their laurels and directly replicate what came before.
Kicking off the all-new tracks is “fool me once”, an explosively melancholic cut that seeks to tug at the heartstrings as the track’s juxtaposing peaks and valleys provide the dynamic makeup of a song that has ‘instant classic material’ written all over it. The way in which the track slowly crescendos from its synthwave-esque opening to its eventual, emotionally crushing full-band release is one of the most flooring moments in music this year thus far. Each and every time I enter that closing minute or so, “fool me once” never fails to give me chills to my core, as Romero belts “I let you in, you took me out, fool me once, I’ll live without.”
“hard for me” switches up the pace with a more traditionally RnB- and synthpop-led sonic palette. It’s a welcome moment of reprieve from the more rock-oriented, energetic sound of the previous three tracks, and allows the audience a moment to breathe before the pace is turned right back up with closing number “no pleasure”. While certainly the most low-key and least compositionally dense of the five songs, there’s something so undeniably engrossing about “hard for me”, being most closely sonically linked to Romero’s take on an After Hours/Dawn.FM-era Weeknd cut.
Naturally, following on from such a stark vibe switch-up with “hard for me”, “no pleasure” proves to be the biggest curveball of the EP. Feeling like a crossover between a cutesy PinkPantheress track and an enthrallingly energetic anime credits theme, fallback’s final moments are defined by nightlife’s clear aspiration to not be pigeonholed into one specific genre or sound. The track’s trance-like ambience and break beat percussion drive the track’s momentum through its four-minute runtime with ease. “no pleasure” also rounds off fallback with style, grace and symmetry, playing the direct counterpoint to opener “nightlifetypebeat”, acting as the EP’s ‘closing credits’, so to speak. I have no clue on the level of intent with that parallel, but fallback’s structure certainly feels surgically considered in moments like these. This is true of the general flow of the EP as well, which feels optimally structured for a journey of well-placed vibes and energetic apexes and nadirs.
With fallback, nightlife not only surpass the lofty expectations set by their stellar-but-succinct debut EP, but further expand their sonic palette into new and exciting directions, all the while refining what made their sound so great to begin with. Not keen to be pigeonholed by a singular genre, the self-ascribed soulpunk outfit have crafted a broad-reaching EP that encapsulates each and every facet of what makes this band so special, while also redefining exactly what that is. If the journey that nightlife have led us down so far is indicative of anything, its that whatever is next is certain to be yet another masterclass in the worlds of soul, funk and djent.
9.5/10
fallback will be available on August 26th via self-release.